84 Lumber ad brings Pittsburgh back to Super Bowl
Delivering 84 Lumber’s message has proven complicated though, after Fox Sports rejected Brunner’s original plan for the spot.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Fox said that some of the imagery in the commercial had controversial political undertones-including ‘the wall,’ a key issue in President Donald Trump’s campaign. Despite being sent back to the drawing board, 84 Lumber is still determined to advertise during the game. Radick said that the obstacle has revitalized their mission.
“What it’s done for us is it’s really shined a spotlight on the commerical and the brand…” he said. “It has increased the internal pressure and some of the work being done here. It makes it that much
According to Radick, the process for acquiring a Super Bowl ad is almost exactly like any other T.V. spot, but the investment does not stop after the game ends.
“It’s not just the spot,” he said. “There are a bunch of other things…on-site activations, things where the logo might be put into pregame shows and other things they have there throughout the year…”
With so much pressure, Radick said the project is taking the highest priority at the agency. Everyone is taking an active role.
“It’s definitely the biggest thing we’ve done,” said Radick. “Everyone at this agency is touching this in some capacity-and that goes from interns all the way up to
Among those interns is 2016 Waynesburg graduate Jordan Mitrik, who began working at Brunner as a digital content creator, and was immediately thrown into the action.
“It’s definitely an all hands on deck situation here at Brunner,” said Mitrik. “…Every day, people are working on the creative side of this, tracking social media, creating story boards, media buying.”
Mitrik believes that the Super Bowl spot will help elevate both 84 Lumber and Brunner in the long run.
“We are the first Pittsburgh agency to create a spot in the last 30 years or so. Hopefully, in turn, [this will] help our agency excel, and more and more creative young professionals will want to work here and look at a great place like Brunner,” said Mitrik.
Radick agreed, saying that this project represents the growth and potential in the Pittsburgh market.
“I think it represents the culmination of the ground swell that we’ve been seeing for a few years now…” said Radick. “There is no reason why Pittsburgh couldn’t play at the same level of the New York and Chicago ad agencies. You start seeing the quality really take some jumps…stand up and take notice.”